Understanding Business Fundamentals and Organizational Systems

Business Concept

A business is an integrated system that combines capital, labor, and knowledge as factors of production and management. It is devoted to industrial, commercial, or service-based activities. The provision of resources is an organization that captures, manages, and transforms them into goods and services sold at a price. Business survival depends on the ability to sell. Companies provide goods and services to society thanks to their capacity for management and economic development.

Enterprise Resources

Tangible Resources

• Human Resources: These are the most important, as without human activity, the company would be impossible.
• Material Resources: Buildings and facilities provide a place for work. Machinery and computers are the tools that facilitate production.
• Financial Resources: These are resources with physical support, such as money and documents, reflecting credits and cash flow, allowing work to be accomplished through collection and payment.

Intangible Resources

These are resources that cannot be seen or touched but are of increasing importance. These include the capabilities and experience of workers and executives, as well as the company's image and reputation.

Employer Functions

1. Capitalist: Provides the means to finance the business project.
2. Entrepreneur: Takes the initiative to launch a business idea.
3. Director: Handles tangible or intangible resources in an effective and efficient manner.

Functions Within the Company

The role and importance of different functions depend on the type of company, its size, and its degree of internationalization. We can distinguish:

• Basic Functions: Indispensable tasks that should be carried out in any company.
• Support Functions: Complementary tasks that must be performed if the company is to succeed and reach its best levels of effectiveness and efficiency.

Business as a System

• Closed System: When the company is analyzed based on its internal functions, setting its borders on aspects that it can control.
• Open System: The organization relates to other systems, influencing and being influenced by them. This occurs when the company interacts with its external environment.